An hour flight and a 2.5-hour rickety bus ride over questionable roads from Lima, the city of Moyobamba is the capital of the northern Peruvian region of San Martín. San Martín is threaded through by the Huallaga River and its tributaries, and has several distinct topographies: one, the Andean Plateau, with its many hills and ravines, is ideal for growing coffee
This was the domain of the Incas, the Chachapoyas, and other ancient civilizations, and the land bears witness to their genius: Machu Picchu, Kualep, and art both ancient and contemporary. It has also been a past center for coca production, but growing coffee and other crops such as cacao and honey is helping bring the communities out of poverty and into a more viable, sustainable standard of living.